Queens, New York, June 22, 2002
The Sharks had already clinched the IWFL Eastern Division title and are going to the IWFL Championship Game on July 6th, so this game had little meaning. Nobody told Bay State.
It was a very warm, muggy day with the temperature in the mid-80’s. A typical New York city summer day, better suited for going to Jones Beach than wearing 25 pounds of football gear and running up and down a football field. The team physicians were concerned about the heat and humidity, and ordered extra ice and even filled up two trash cans with water and ice so they could dunk a player in it if they were showing signs of heat exhaustion.
The game started off with the Bay State Warriors (5-4) kicking off to the New York Sharks (8-0). The ball bounced off return woman Courtney Eaton‘s hands and tumbled towards the goal line. Eaton picked it up but was immediately swarmed by the Warriors at the 2 yard line. Starting the series deep in their own territory, New York was only able to move the ball to the 4 yard line before being forced to punt. Punter Aurora Lighthat set up deep in the end zone to take the snap, but the snap went sailing over her head and out of bounds. In less than 3 minutes, the Sharks were behind for the first time all season, 2-0.
New York was stunned but could not dwell on it as they had to free kick to Bay State. The Shark’s defense came out strong and stopped the Warriors on 3 downs and forced them to punt. The Sharks were able to return the punt to their own 24 yard line.
With their backs not against the endzone, Shark’s quarterback Val Halesworth methodically marched her team down the field. Mixing the play calling with runs by Eaton, Virginia “Cha Chi” Leon, and passes to Val “Peanut” Monaco, and Liz Presto, New York had the ball on the Bay State 1 yard line after 12 plays. 13 proved to be a lucky number as Eaton punched the ball in to put the Shark’s back in familiar territory, the lead. Halesworth hit Monaco in the end zone for a successful 2 point conversion and with 2:54 left in the first quarter, the Sharks were leading 8-2.
Again the Shark’s defense was up to the task and forced the Warriors to quickly punt the ball. A strong kick by their punter, put New York on their own 20 yard line. After a 10 yard holding penalty on New York, the Sharks were again backed deep in their own terriorty. This time the Sharks were able to get the ball out to the 34 yard line, after a 19 yard run by Leon and a nice reception by Monica Marsh. But on the next play, Bay State got into the backfield and forced Halesworth to scramble. She was able to evade the sack but threw the ball downfield on the run. The Warriors picked off the pass and moved the ball to the Shark’s 41 yard line. What made the play most unusal was this was Halesworth’s first interception she has thrown all season.
Bay State’s offense quickly went to work and was able to move the ball down to the Shark’s 15 yard line on a 26 yard pass play. But New York’s defense tightened up as Eaton stopped the quarterback on a running play to the right for a 7 yard loss. Bay State fumbled the ball on the next play but recovered it for a 1 yard loss. The Warriors went back to the air and moved the ball down to the 10 yard line for a fourth down and 5 yards to go situation. Bay State opted to go for the first down but New York closed in quickly on the quarterback who’s quick throw fell harmlessly to the ground.
Near the end of the half, the Sharks were again threatening to score but a fumble by Leon gave the ball back to Bay State at their own 17 yard line. The Shark’s defense promptly got the ball back as Christine “Killer” Hilla intercepted a pass at the Warrior 22 yard line and ran it back to the 12. A quick 2 yard run to the left and then a 10 yard pass to Monaco in the endzone made it 14-2 with only 1:39 left in the half.
In the second half, New York had the ball on their own 45 yard line. Three straight pass to Monaco moved the ball down to the Warrior’s 21 yard line. From here, the Sharks went to the ground game and moved it all the way in for the touchdown. The scoring play was a 3 yard run by Eaton who made it on a good second effort surge into the line. Another Halesworth to Monaco connection for the 2 point conversion, put the Sharks in a strong position with 7:22 left in the third quarter, 22-2.
With a comfortable lead in the fourth quarter, New York stayed on the ground to eat up time on the clock. Continuously giving the ball to Eaton, the Sharks kept moving the yard markers downfield and just as importantly kept the clock running.
With less than 2 minutes left to play, the Sharks were called for “icing”. With New York coach Nick Giannatasio facing the field, the Sharks dumped a bucket of ice water on him to celebrate the team’s 8-0 record. But alot of the ice cubes went flying on to the playing field. The ice could cause a player to slip so the referee called the Sharks for a delay of game penalty and gave them 5 minutes…I mean 5 yards. New York had to clear the field of the ice cubes before the game could be resumed.
The Sharks finished the regular season winning every game they played. Some of the wins were not that pretty and this was one of them. The heat seemed to take alot out of the team, but Bay State also played a very strong game. The Warriors were able to move the ball with their passing attack and they showed some strong efforts from their special team’s play. But when it came down to putting the ball in the endzone, the unrelenting New York defense shut the door on them.
Gameballs were given to Lighthart for her strong blocking game at center and to Wanda Williams who had a spectacular day on defense. Williams finished the day with two fumble recoveries, an interception, and a sack. She also was in the face of the Bay State quarterback a lot. And the last game ball was given to “H2O”, Christine Leon, the team’s watergirl and daughter of Shark player Virginia “Cha Chi” Leon. Cha Chi Jr. has been with the team all season, including on the road delivering the liquid refreshments. And it was especially important on this warm and humid day.
New York will now prepare for the IWFL Championship Game on July 6th in Ashland, Oregon. They will be playing the Austin Outlaws who won the IWFL western division. The Sharks would like to thank their fans for supporting them, especially those who have made donations to help them travel to Oregon. The Sharks have a perfect regular season record and are looking to win just one more game and bring another championship title to the Big Apple.